The first contact with higher education for most college-bound students from disadvantaged backgrounds is the local community college. While community colleges enroll about the same number of new students as 4-year colleges, they enroll a much higher proportion from less advantaged backgrounds:

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Of course, some of these low-SES community college enrollees are the “high-achieving, low-income students” documented by Hoxby and Avery – that is, students who had the credentials to attend a more selective school but, for a variety of reasons, did not apply. We certainly need to make greater efforts to get more of these students into more selective colleges – and recent moves by the administration to tie federal funding to access criteria are an important step in the right direction.

Community colleges suffer from low completion rates, especially among students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Just 36% of all degree-seeking community college students enrolling in 2003 earned a formal degree within the following 6 years. For students from low-SES backgrounds, these rates were even lower. More troubling still were the low transfer rates among community college students who initially planned to transfer to a 4-year college. Again, the likelihood of transferring was even lower among first-time enrollees from disadvantaged backgrounds:

There is huge scope for improving mobility outcomes through the development of the community college system, especially by boosting Associate degree attainment rates and helping students transfer to 4-year institutions. And many states, schools, and nonprofits have begun to tackle these challenges head-on through a variety of innovative programs, including experimental performance-based scholarships and more flexible college curriculums (e.g., stackable credits and career pathways). Much more is needed, though. The question policymakers should perhaps be asking themselves this fall is: what’s the secret to getting through community college?